Astrophysics (Index)About

Ganymede

(Jupiter III)
(well-known Jupiter moon)

Ganymede (Jupiter III) is Jupiter's largest moon, which is the largest moon in the solar system (and is larger than Mercury and Pluto). It is one of the original four moons found centuries ago (Galilean Moons), the third outward from Jupiter of these and it is the seventh outward of Jupiter's currently known moons. Its radius is 2634 km (0.4 Earth's), its mass is 1.5×1023 kg (0.025 Earth's), with a mean density about twice that of water (about 1/3 Earth's) and subsurface oceans are suspected. Ganymede's orbital period is 7 days and it is tidally locked. Its orbit is in sync with Europa (2 orbits for each Ganymede orbit, an orbital resonance) and Io (4 orbits for each Ganymede orbit). Flyby observations of Ganymede have been made by the Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, and Juno missions, Galileo approaching 264 km from its surface. JUICE was launched in 2023 and is currently on the way to Jupiter with plans to finish its mission orbiting Ganymede.


(moon,Jupiter)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon)
https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moons/ganymede/
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/outerp/gany.html
RedshiftParsecs
/Distance
Lightyears
/Lookback Years
  
~04.2AU~0lynearestGanymede
~06.2AU~0lyfurthestGanymede

Referenced by pages:
cryovolcano
Europa
Io
JUICE
Jupiter
magnetic field
moon
orbital resonance

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